Scottish Executive

Antisocial Behaviour

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding the impact of closure orders made under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 on housing benefit.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the interaction between housing benefit policy and policy on devolved matters. Discussions were held with DWP at official level on those aspects of closure orders which impact on housing benefit issues during the bill stages of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004. Those discussions covered eligibility for housing benefit under a range of scenarios where a closure order resulted in a claimant for housing benefit being excluded from the property to which their claim related. The outcome of those discussions informed ministers’ position on closure orders during stage 2 of the consideration of the bill; the stage 3 Executive amendment which required the sheriff to have regard to the vulnerability of an occupant who had not engaged in antisocial behaviour when considering an application for a closure order; and the guidance which has been issued to police and local authorities.

Carers

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each local authority area are defined as carers; how many people in each local authority area have been assessed under the extended right to assessment for informal carers in the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 and how carers have been made aware of this right; how many people have accessed direct payments to purchase services directly under the act, and how much additional funding it provided to local authorities for undertaking their responsibilities under the act.

Rhona Brankin: The questions on numbers of carers and carers’ assessments are addressed in recent written answers. I refer the member to questions S2W-11761 answered on 9 November 2004 and S2W-12399 answered on 2 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 requires local authorities to offer direct payments in order to purchase services in lieu of those which a local authority would normally provide itself. Information about the number of carers in receipt of direct payments is not held centrally, but a total of 912 people received direct payments in the year to 31 March 2004. A breakdown of numbers receiving direct payments by local authority area can be accessed from table number 8 of the statistics release Direct Payments Scotland 2004, available at the following website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00370-00.asp.

  Funding will be available to local authorities from 2006 onwards to assist further roll-out.

Central Heating Programme

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to senior citizens who qualify for free central heating under its central heating installation programme but who are unable to have a system installed because the electrical system in their home is inadequate.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive provides resources to local authorities for housing improvement and repair grants. These grants could be used to help home owners upgrade their electrical systems. However, each local authority will have its own priorities for use of this funding and individual authorities should be contacted for details of their policies.

Children

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to build a national database to include details of children at risk and in need and, if so, whether these details will be shared and integrated with information databases in England and Wales.

Peter Peacock: The Executive is not building a national database. It is currently supporting pilots to develop potential IT systems sharing which would allow practitioners to view agreed information from another agency in cases where they have the consent of the child/carer or because they are investigating a concern about the child.

  The pilot developments are currently Scotland based. In the long-term systems, development could enable agencies to share agreed information with the information databases in England and Wales.

Children

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a national database of children in Scotland who are deemed to be in need.

Peter Peacock: There is no national database of children in need. The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration host a database which holds information on children who are referred to them. It is used for the purposes of managing the agency and providing specific anonymised information for the purposes of research.

Civil Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-11112 and S2W-12247 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November and Malcolm Chisholm on 29 November 2004, whether the Finance Committee’s report on the relocation of public sector jobs has been made available to the Department for Work and Pensions and, if so, what response there has been from that department to the opinions that have been expressed by the Scottish Parliament on this matter.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Finance Committee Report on the relocation of public sector jobs has recently been made available to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). I will ensure any response received from the department will be made available through the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Co-Operatives

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when its response to the consultation on the establishment of a co-operative development agency will be published.

Allan Wilson: The response by the Scottish Executive to the consultation on the establishment of a Co-operative Development Agency in Scotland will be published when final conclusions have been reached on the scope of the agency, its focus and the type of body it will be. Officials are currently working on the policy proposal which has been informed by the helpful responses to the consultation, and we hope to announce our conclusions early in 2005.

Culture

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to deliver its policy priority of "promoting the widest possible participation in cultural life, bringing real benefits to confidence, self esteem and diversity of communities and individuals; and celebrating and promoting Scottish art and culture at home and abroad"; how it will quantify the success of the policy in achieving its objectives, and over what timescale these objectives will be met.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: Building on the First Minister’s speech on St Andrew’s Day 2003, the Executive is committed to providing access to cultural excellence in pursuit of its wider objective to build a better Scotland. We have therefore set ourselves targets, within the Building a Better Scotland Spending Proposals 2005-2008 , both for increasing access and maintaining the excellence of our cultural offering. As regards access, our target is to increase by 3% the numbers of people taking part in cultural activities funded by the Executive, by March 2008, maintaining the balance of participation across the population. As regards excellence, our target sets out to increase the number of cultural successes by 3%, by March 2008. Our agencies are committed to playing their full part in delivering these targets, and delivery will be monitored. The spending proposals also specify the funding that has been committed in order to meet our objectives.

  The Cultural Commission has been asked explicitly, in the remit for its on-going review, to take into account our top priority for "both access and excellence to be a constant throughout cultural provision in Scotland". This imperative is also central to the ongoing cross-portfolio agenda which I am pursuing with cabinet colleagues further to the First Minister’s statement that every ministerial portfolio would make a contribution, recognising its role and responsibilities in helping to strengthen and support the development of cultural activity in this country. Ways to celebrate and promote Scotland’s cultural output, here and overseas, also feature in this broad agenda.

Domestic Abuse

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ensures that appropriate training is provided for procurators fiscal in dealing with domestic abuse prosecutions.

Mrs Elish Angiolini QC: Training on the range of issues which arise in the prosecution of cases involving domestic abuse forms part of the core induction which is undertaken by all new prosecutors. This training, which includes input from Scottish Women’s Aid, is designed to equip prosecutors with a sound knowledge of the particular legal issues which arise frequently in these prosecutions as well as an awareness and understanding of the wider issues about victims experiencing domestic abuse in Scotland.

  We are also currently working with Scottish Women’s Aid to develop advanced training for all staff within the prosecution service who work with victims and witnesses experiencing domestic abuse. This will build on the core training course to ensure that staff develop a high degree of proficiency in the preparation and prosecution of such cases

Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging home-link ICT projects for school pupils.

Peter Peacock: Within the National Grid for Learning programme the Executive is providing all primary schools with membership of Gridclub, a web education resource for children aged 7-11. This includes a safe online environment in which primary children can interact and message each other both at school and at home under the supervision of trained and vetted adult monitors.

  Procurement of the Scottish Schools Digital Network, a national intranet for schools, is under way. Part of the specification for this will ensure that pupils are able to access most, if not all, of the resources and services from any location, including school, the home, libraries and other public access points.

  A range of ICT projects including one in Glasgow and one in West Dunbartonshire addresses the issue of the use of ICT in the home.

Employment

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote and support employers in the development of flexible working practices.

Allan Wilson: Employment issues are reserved and most schemes of promotion and support are run on a UK-wide basis. But there are things which the Executive has been doing including:

  funding to Fair Play through the enterprise networks to promote equal opportunities and the work-life balance;

  through our response to the report of the Strategic Group on Women published in March;

  publishing a Work-Life Balance toolkit for Childcare Partnerships in 2002, and

  funding a National Childcare Co-ordinator whose remit is to engage employers to use flexible working practices.

Employment

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to lead a taskforce to help workers at Richards of Aberdeen back into employment.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative provides a framework for local public sector agencies to respond to large scale redundancies quickly and effectively. A local response to the situation faced by workers at Richards of Aberdeen is underway. Assistance has been provided in the form of a Jobs fair, held at the offices of Jobcentre plus, in November 2004 with over 35 local employers taking part.

Environment

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the required timescale is for the finalisation of the local plans for East Lothian, Midlothian, Edinburgh and West Lothian and how that timescale can be reconciled with the new requirement for environmental impact assessments of these plans.

Johann Lamont: The recently approved Edinburgh and the Lothians Structure Plan requires these local plans to be finalised by the end of 2005. In producing the plans, the authorities will need to take account of a range of issues, including the recently introduced Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Regulations. The Executive is currently preparing to modernise the planning system and will ensure that it is fully SEA compliant. In the meantime, the Executive has issued guidance and interim advice on the environmental assessment of structure and local plans.

Environment

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to consult with key stakeholders in Scotland on the procedures for action on plant pests and the disclosure of site information following a pest outbreak.

Ross Finnie: The Executive issued a consultation document today. This is being sent to agricultural, horticultural, environmental and consumer groups; to those growers who are authorised to issue plant passports, and to those with current or recent outbreaks of quarantine pests. Copies of the documents pertaining to the consultation, which will run for 12 weeks, will also be placed on the Scottish Executive website. I have also made arrangements for a copy of the consultation to be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34640).

Environment

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional resources will be made available in 2004-05 to enable local authorities to deal with contaminated and derelict land.

Lewis Macdonald: We announced in June the allocation of £5 million for cleaning up derelict and contaminated land that is creating health risks or causing blight on local communities. I am pleased to say that I am able to allocate a further £5.720 million to local authorities for this purpose in 2004-05, bringing the total to £10.720 million. All councils were invited to submit bids. The distribution I am announcing today is aimed at supporting proposals for remediation of those sites considered highest priority in terms of risk to public health and the environment.

  The distribution of resources is shown in the table.

  

Local Authority
Funding Allocated
£000


Aberdeenshire
434


Clackmannanshire
61


Dundee City 
440


East Ayrshire
309


East Lothian 
50


Edinburgh (City of)
225


Eilean Siar
150


Falkirk 
1,020


Fife 
1,761


Glasgow City 
70


Highland 
695


Moray
2,150


Perth and Kinross
475


Renfrewshire
300


Scottish Borders
292


South Lanarkshire 
550


Stirling 
388


West Dunbartonshire 
750


West Lothian 
600


Total
10,720

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding events to be held in Scotland as part of the UK Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive is working closely with UK Government to ensure that Scotland contributes fully to the UK Presidency of the EU – both in terms of identifying priorities in the UK-Luxembourg Operational Programme, which was adopted on 13 December, and in bringing related events and meetings to Scotland.

  The overall co-ordination of the UK Presidency is discussed at meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe) which I attend, and at the regular meetings of the UK Presidency Co-ordinators Group at which the Executive is represented by officials from Europe Division.

  There are currently some 25 Presidency events planned to take place in Scotland, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase Scotland and to contribute positively to the development of EU policy initiatives.

European Union

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any nominations for the vacancy on Group I (employers) of the UK delegation to the European Union’s Economic and Social Committee.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive consulted Scottish business interests widely on filling the vacancy on Group I of the Economic and Social Committee that was created by the resignation of Ms Sheila Ritchie. Scottish ministers have endorsed the nominations of Mr Kenneth W Fraser, proposed by CBI Scotland and the Institute of Directors Scotland and Mr John Downie, proposed by the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, as candidates for the vacancy on Group I of the UK delegation to the European Union’s Economic and Social Committee.

Firearms

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take on firearms offences.

Cathy Jamieson: While firearms legislation is reserved, we are working closely with the UK Government to tackle gun crime. In 2004, we brought in new laws to protect the public from the misuse of air weapons and increased penalties for the illegal possession or distribution of prohibited firearms.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there have been in the (a) fish processing and (b) catching sector in each year since 1979, also broken down by (i) region and (ii) constituency and expressed per capita, outlining the methodology used to classify the jobs.

Ross Finnie: Information about the numbers of persons employed in the sea fisheries catching sector are compiled annually by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. Each person employed is classified as regularly employed if employment in the catching sector is their main or only source of income. All other persons employed in the catching sector are classified as being irregularly employed. The geographical location of those employed is associated with the port that they work from as opposed to their place of residence.

  Table 1 shows employment in the catching sector over the period 1979-2003 (inclusive) and also presents catching sector employment as a percentage of the working age population. These latter statistics are based upon the mid-year population estimates produced by the General Register Office for Scotland.

  Table 1: Number of Persons Employed in the Catching-Sector since 1979 in Scotland

  

Year
Regularly Employed
Irregularly Employed/Crofters
Total
Percentage of the Working Age Population


1979
7,613
1,211
8,824
0.3%


1980
7,561
1,138
8,699
0.3%


1981
7,376
1,085
8,461
0.3%


1982
7,247
937
8,184
0.3%


1983
7,173
902
8,075
0.3%


1984
7,198
902
8,100
0.3%


1985
7,170
932
8,102
0.3%


1986
7,244
992
8,236
0.3%


1987
7,522
970
8,492
0.3%


1988
7,672
1,039
8,711
0.3%


1989
7,862
920
8,782
0.3%


1990
7,550
890
8,440
0.3%


1991
7,300
880
8,180
0.3%


1992
7,180
960
8,140
0.3%


1993
8,060
1,360
9,420
0.3%


1994
7,160
1,450
8,610
0.3%


1995
6,889
1,506
8,395
0.3%


1996
6,689
1,395
8,084
0.3%


1997
6,729
1,465
8,194
0.3%


1998
6,395
1,376
7,771
0.2%


1999
6,042
1,288
7,330
0.2%


2000
5,594
1,308
6,902
0.2%


2001
5,353
1,284
6,637
0.2%


2002
4,369
1,338
5,707
0.2%


2003
3,968
1,308
5,276
0.2%



  Sources: Number of persons employed in the catching sector: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

  Percentage of the working age population: based on GROS revised mid-year population estimates.

  Table 2 shows employment in the Scottish sea fish catching sector over the period 1995-2003. The figures below are not presented on a per-capita basis as population estimates for electoral regions are not currently available. A complete record of employment by port is not held electronically prior to 1995; consequently it has not been possible to calculate employment by electoral region for these earlier years at this time.

  Employment statistics for the sea fish catching sector are not currently available at the constituency level.

  Table 2: Number of Fishermen Employed by Electoral Region (1995-2003)

  

Electoral Region
Data
Year


1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003


Highlands and Islands
Regularly Employed
3,218
3,138
3,091
2,969
2,744
2,632
2,560
2,145
 2,084


Irregularly Employed
847
800
919
810
798
799
767
793
 847


Crofters
83
60
50
42
46
48
81
105
 70


All Persons
4,148
3,998
4,060
3,821
3,588
3,479
3,408
3,043
 3,001


Lothians
Regularly Employed
161
168
151
125
131
97
71
50
 50


Irregularly Employed
52
52
28
18
13
8
14
11
 10


Crofters
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 -


All Persons
213
220
179
143
144
105
85
61
 60


Mid-Scotland and Fife
Regularly Employed
209
191
191
137
162
127
158
117
 103


Irregularly Employed
54
46
49
64
20
37
24
36
 25


Crofters
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 -


All Persons
263
237
240
201
182
164
182
153
 128


North East Scotland
Regularly Employed
2,412
2,281
2,394
2,311
2,157
1,839
1,769
1,451
 1,156


Irregularly Employed
272
230
219
256
220
236
247
247
 219


Crofters
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 -


All Persons
2,684
2,511
2,613
2,567
2,377
2,075
2,016
1,698
 1,375


South of Scotland
Regularly Employed
504
470
455
423
424
480
445
303
 298


Irregularly Employed
164
183
173
162
166
152
122
96
 96


Crofters
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 -


All Persons
668
653
628
585
590
632
567
399
 394


West of Scotland
Regularly Employed
385
441
447
430
424
419
350
303
 277


Irregularly Employed
34
24
27
24
25
28
29
50
 41


Crofters
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
 -


All Persons
419
465
474
454
449
447
379
353
 318


Total Regularly employed 
 6,889
6,689
6,729
6,395
6,042
5,594
5,353
4,369
3,968


Total Irregularly employed
 1,423
1,335
1,415
1,334
1,242
1,260
1,203
1,233
1,238


Total Crofters 
 83
60
50
42
46
48
81
105
70


Total All persons 
 8,395
8,084
8,194
7,771
7,330
6,902
6,637
5,707
5,276



  Source: Number of persons employed in the catching sector: Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.

  There are a number of sources of employment data for the fish processing industry in Scotland although very few allow the examination of employment regionally.

  The Sea Fish Industry Authority periodically conducts a survey of the entire fish processing sector in the UK. The survey specifically aims to capture information about those persons who are employed seasonally or casually in the industry and uses this information to calculate a full-time equivalent employment figure for each company surveyed. An additional benefit of this survey is that it is possible to differentiate between companies primarily involved in the processing of either marine fish or salmon.

  Table 3 shows employment in companies primarily involved in marine fish processing in 2004 at the county level. To protect the confidentiality of individual companies, it has been necessary to group together a number of counties containing less than five fish processing companies. These statistics may not be released at the constituency level.

  Table 3: Employment in Processing of Marine Fish (Full-Time Equivalent), 2004

  

County
Full-Time Equivalent Employees


Aberdeenshire
 3,952 


Angus
 166 


Argyll and Bute
 167 


Dumfries and Galloway/Dumfriesshire
 609 


Highland/Sutherland
 332 


Lanarkshire/Ayrshire
 524 


Lothian
 183 


Moray
 250 


Orkney/Shetland
 301 


Scottish Borders
 120 


Western Isles
 156 


Fife/Perth and Kinross
 85 


Grand Total
 6,846 



  Source: Sea Fish Industry Authority.

  Comparable figures for 1995 and 2000 are not available at this level of geographical detail however total full-time equivalent employment was estimated during those years to be: 7,889 (2000) and 7,595 (1995).

Food

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to community food initiatives in each year since 1999.

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it intends to provide to community food initiatives in the next financial year.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has provided the following funding to the Scottish Community Diet Project (SCDP), a large proportion of which goes towards supporting community food initiatives, either by providing direct financial support through its grant scheme or by providing support in kind:

  

Year
Amount


1999-2000
£252,226


2000-01
£239,239


2001-02
£258,216


2002-03
£681,3501 


2003-04
£390,344


2004-05
£391,620



  Note: 1. Includes £300,000 for the breakfast club challenge fund.

  No decision has been taken yet on the amount of funding to be awarded to the SCDP during 2005-06.

  In addition to the SCDP, Community food initiatives also receive public funding from other sources, in particular NHS boards, local authorities and the New Opportunities Fund (now Big Lottery Fund).

Forestry

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive who owns the carbon rights in trees that are planted under the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme helps to deliver our Scottish Forestry Strategy on land other than that managed by Forestry Commission Scotland. Assets from woodlands created or maintained through the grants scheme belong to the landowner and this applies to carbon as it does to timber or other marketable products.

G8 Summit

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11120 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004 regarding the hosting of the G8 Summit, what work is being carried out by Scottish Enterprise to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses in respect of the summit.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11120 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004 regarding the hosting of the G8 Summit, what work is being undertaken by the local enterprise network to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses in respect of the summit.

Mr Tom McCabe: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. However, the enterprise networks (represented by Scottish Enterprise Tayside) are working with the Executive to support the preparations for the G8 Summit and to provide information and assistance to Scottish businesses as this work progresses.

  This includes: working with Scotland's key business organisations on summit planning; providing information for businesses about the summit on scottish-enterprise.com; working with Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultants on possible sponsorship opportunities; alerting companies to summit procurement opportunities advertised in the Official Journal European Union (OJEU) and identifying companies who may be in a position to tender for services which fall under OJEU thresholds; providing suggestions from across the enterprise networks for company and other possible press visits. Scottish Enterprise Tayside representatives have also attended briefings for the local business community led by Perth and Kinross Council.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an enhanced service for drug users will be available from all GPs across Scotland under the terms of the new contract.

Andy Kerr: It is for NHS boards to decide how best to provide enhanced services, such as treatment for drug misusers, in their area, taking account of local need. The new General Medical Services contract is underpinned by a patient service guarantee to ensure that patients continue to receive at least the same range of services they received previously, although these may be delivered differently.

  NHS boards are free to commission such enhanced services from the most appropriate provider. This may be a GP practice, another NHS provider or the board itself.

General Practitioners

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that GPs manage chronic pain patients adequately.

Mr Andy Kerr: The new General Medical Services (GMS) contract came into effect on 1 April 2004. It requires GPs to provide medical services for their patients and specifies the on-going treatment and management of chronic illnesses. Chronic pain management forms an important part of this service. Additionally, the Quality and Outcomes Framework recognises and rewards GPs for good chronic disease management which includes those with chronic pain.

  Training in the management of chronic pain is part of the training received by every general practitioner. All doctors working in primary care are required, as part of their annual appraisal, to have a personal learning plan, based on their own needs: GPs might include the updating of knowledge and skills in chronic pain management in such a plan. Guidance and assistance on training for general practitioners is available to GPs from NHS Education for Scotland via the Postgraduate Directors of General Practice Education.

Health

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it can address public concern over local NHS reforms.

Mr Andy Kerr: Public concern around proposed changes to their local NHS services is understandable. The NHS must develop ways of engaging the local population in dialogue about how future NHS reforms will take shape and how they will affect the quality of care and delivery of services. Draft interim guidance was issued to the NHS in May 2002 on "Consultation and public involvement in major service change" and this is being revised to reflect comments received from a number of stakeholders and the experiences of consultation across Scotland. The new guidance "Informing, Engaging and Consulting the Public in Developing Health and Community Care Policies" will issue shortly and places a new focus upon informing and engaging with the public as soon as considerations of service change begin.

  The NHS Reform (Scotland) 2004 places a new duty upon the NHS to involve the public and boards must be able to demonstrate that they have taken genuine steps to inform, engage and consult the public over changes to services. This will be assessed by the Scottish Health Council which is being established as a body which will provide independent reports to the NHS, the Health Department and Scottish ministers.

  To acknowledge the changes that are taking place in the way health services are delivered, a National Framework for Service Change in NHSScotland is being developed to support the change process ahead. A National Framework Advisory Group has been established to drive forward the review and is being led by Professor David Kerr and is due to report in March 2005. Comments from the public have been welcomed as a key part of the review. A newsletter describing the work of the group was distributed to NHS staff and to the public which poses a number of questions on the future and seeks views on them. The advisory group has begun holding regional meetings for the public across Scotland.

Health

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is providing for the provision and fitting of prosthetic limbs.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is providing in the NHS Grampian area for the provision and fitting of prosthetic limbs.

Rhona Brankin: There is no portion of the general allocation provided to NHS boards that is specifically ring fenced for the provision and fitting of prosthetic limbs, which forms part of Rehabilitation Technology Services. It for each NHS board to decide how best to apportion the resources available to it so as to best meet the needs of the whole of the population within its area of responsibility.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many single surveys have now been carried out in each pilot area, expressed also as a percentage of all surveys purchased in each area.

Malcolm Chisholm: As at 7 December 2004, a total of 70 single surveys had been commissioned: 63 in the Greater Glasgow North and West pilot area, one in the Edinburgh North and Leith area, and three in each of the Dundee and Inverness areas. The Scottish Executive does not hold statistics on the overall number of residential property surveys carried out in each area.

Housing

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a yearly review of real and relative house price changes for different house types in the major housing markets such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee and a parallel analysis of whether a sufficient supply of sites is being provided to meet demand.

Malcolm Chisholm: A number of organisations, including private sector banks and Registers of Scotland regularly publish house price data at both a national and sub-national level. Many also disaggregate the national data by house type. As a result the Scottish Executive has no plans to publish additional house price information.

  In respect of housing land supply, the relevant information is collected and held by planning authorities, and is not held centrally. Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing (SPP3) says that planning authorities should carry out regular monitoring of housing completions and availability of effective land by preparing a housing land audit. In most urban authorities, these audits are carried out annually. SPP3 also requires planning authorities to ensure that their development plans identify the housing land requirement for at least 12 years from the plan’s expected date of approval, and to ensure that a five-year effective supply of land is maintained at all times.

Maternity Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure the implementation and monitoring of the recommendations of Why Mothers Die 2000-2002 and, given that some of these recommendations have been made in previous reports and not universally implemented, what steps it will take to prevent the need for the same conclusions and recommendations to be reached in the future.

Rhona Brankin: The findings and recommendations of the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths (CEMD), Why Mothers Die 2000-2002 , are relevant to all health care professionals responsible for the planning and provision of care to pregnant and recently delivered women. All NHS organisations and individual staff are advised to consider the recommendations within the CEMD Report and to develop action plans for change where needed in their local services or individual practice.

  The Framework for Maternity Services (2001) and the report of the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (2002) addresses many of the recommendations that the CEMD has made. NHS boards have been asked to adopt the principles in both these documents. The Scottish Executive monitors implementation of these through the Maternity Services Performance Assessment Framework.

Medical Students

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to medical schools on admissions procedures.

Mr Andy Kerr: Acting on behalf of the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council sets the number of funded student places available to each medical school in Scotland. Within this allocation our universities are, as autonomous bodies, responsible for determining their own admissions criteria.

  Our medical schools are considering the implications of the recommendations on university admission and selection set out in Sir Kenneth Calman’s Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland. I will respond to Sir Kenneth’s Report in due course.

Medical Students

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish-domiciled applicants were accepted to study medicine in 2004 from Scottish (a) state and (b) independent schools.

Mr Andy Kerr: The data requested is not available centrally to this level of detail.

Ministerial Correspondence

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the second and third quarters of 2004.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the answer to question S1W-24583, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the number of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter April to June 2004, 3,031 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 75% received a reply within 17 working days, and 88% received a reply within 25 working days. In the same period Ministers received 729 invitations.

  In the quarter July to September 2004, 2877 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 70% received a reply within 17 working days, and 86% received a reply within 25 workings days. In the same period ministers received 709 invitations.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are being applied to the choice of headquarters for  sportscotland and when it will announce its decision on the location.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: The criteria being applied to inform a decision on the location of  sportscotland’s headquarters are as recommended by the Executive for all location reviews. These involve a first stage that balances socio-economic benefit with business efficiency equally, followed by a second stage focusing on the economic and financial appraisal of options. We hope to reach and announce our decision on the future location of  sportscotland's headquarters in the near future.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set target dates for the publication of all local and structure plans.

Johann Lamont: Proposals in the Executive’s recent consultation on Making Development Plans Deliver include the introduction of a statutory requirement to update development plans within a defined period. A white paper outlining the Executive’s proposals for modernising planning, including measures to speed up development planning, is expected to be published in spring 2005.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider setting financial penalties for local authorities who do not meet targets for the publication of local and structure plans.

Johann Lamont: The recent consultation on Making Development Plans Deliver sets out a series of options, including financial rewards and penalties, requiring authorities to keep development plans up to date. An analysis of the responses will be published in due course. A white paper outlining the Executive’s proposals for modernising planning, including measures to speed up development planning, is expected to be published in spring 2005.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to speed up the consideration of planning applications to meet its targets.

Johann Lamont: The planning system is based on a plan-led system by which planning authorities are required to make their decisions in accordance with the development plan for the area in question. Through the Making Development Plans Deliver consultation, we are working towards ensuring that development plans are up to date so that decisions can be made quickly and consistently.

  The Scottish Executive has proposed a number of specific measures to help speed up the determination of planning applications. These include the introduction of e-planning methods which allow the submission of planning applications online and the standardisation of planning application forms. A white paper outlining the Executive’s proposals for modernising planning, including measures to speed up development control, is expected to be published in spring 2005.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has four targets for the consideration of individual planning applications and one target for major applications.

Johann Lamont: Planning authorities are subject to a number of targets for the processing of planning applications. These are:

  (1) 80% of all applications for planning permission (aggregating householder, major and other applications) must be determined within two months.

  (2) 85% of all applications for planning permission (aggregating householder, major and other applications) must be determined within three months.

  (3) Taking the subset of householder applications as a separate category, 90% of these applications must be determined within two months.

  (4) Taking the subset of householder applications as a separate category, 95% of these applications must be determined within three months.

  (5) Taking the subset of major applications as a separate category, 80% of these applications must be determined within four months.

  The reason that additional targets are applied to the separate category of householder applications is that they are for the most part straightforward and are expected to be processed more quickly. An additional target for major applications is set because they tend to be more complex and may raise controversial or sensitive issues which in turn take longer to determine.

  The general targets which apply to all applications therefore take into account the fact that speedier determination of householder applications (which are also more numerous) should balance out slower progress on the major development applications.

Planning

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in what way its plans to modernise the planning system will address existing delays in the planning process.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive invited views on its proposals for reform of the development planning system in its consultation paper Making Development Plans Deliver which was published in April 2004. The proposals in the consultation paper were grouped under four key themes, that is more efficient management of the development planning process; more effective consultation and engagement in the preparation of plans; making plans shorter and targeted on key spatial issues; ensuring that plans are aimed at delivering desirable outcomes in terms of improving the environment; protecting what we value and promoting high-quality development. These proposals will all contribute towards securing more efficient operation of the development planning system and the achievement of more satisfactory planning outcomes.

  In relation to development control the determination of planning applications takes place within a "plan led" system. That means that development plans (structure and local plans) form the basis of the planning system through setting the framework for land use and development in their areas. In determining planning applications local authorities are required to have regard to whether proposals are consistent with the development plan for the area. The Executive’s proposals to ensure coverage across Scotland of relevant and up-to-date development plans should therefore help to ensure that decisions on planning applications can be taken more quickly and consistently.

  A white paper outlining the Executive’s proposals for modernising planning is expected to be published in spring 2005.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when the TETRA system will be fully operational and ready for use by police.

Cathy Jamieson: By summer of 2006 all police forces in Scotland will be fully operational in the use of Airwave.

Public Sector Funding

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the outcome of additional financial support to public bodies where additional weighting is given to deprivation factors in funding formulae.

Malcolm Chisholm: The outcome of such additional financial support is assessed through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements for the particular programme being funded.

Public Transport

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in making public transport fully accessible to disabled people.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive is committed to fully accessible public transport. People with disabilities should enjoy the same opportunities to travel in Scotland as other members of society. To achieve this, we are working with public transport providers and others to improve access to services and facilities across Scotland.

  A number of projects funded through the Integrated Transport Fund, the Public Transport Fund and the Rural Transport Fund have allowed for greater accessibility. In addition, the Executive sponsors the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS). MACS was established to advise Scottish ministers on the transport needs of disabled people and how to improve accessibility.

Rail Network

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be allocated for the rail functions to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Nicol Stephen: A fair and appropriate sum will be transferred to the Executive. Detailed discussions are currently being held with the Department for Transport. This work is being given high priority.

Renewable Energy

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had, and is currently having, with National Grid Transco before setting renewable targets.

Mr Jim Wallace: We discuss network infrastructure issues in relation to the UK renewables targets with all of the transmission companies, including NGT, through the aegis of the Transmission Issues Working Group.

Road Safety

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce the number of fatalities on roads.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive is investing in road improvements targeted on accident cluster sites. We are also funding road safety programmes such as the Foolsspeed and Festive drink driving campaigns, and safer road projects such as safer routes to school and home zones. We are supporting tougher enforcement by the police, for example to stop drivers using hand-held mobile telephones.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether responsibility for the maintenance of Kinloch Castle rests with its owners, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and, if so, whether SNH has discharged that responsibility and how much has been spent on (a) repairs and maintenance and (b) other work at Kinloch Castle in each year since the inception of SNH.

Lewis Macdonald: The island of Rum, including Kinloch Castle, is owned by SNH and managed as a National Nature Reserve. Maintenance is therefore an operational issue for SNH to address as part of its overall plans for the island, and I have asked the Chief Executive of SNH to write to the member about this matter.

Scottish Water

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers Scottish Water’s consultation procedures to be satisfactory.

Lewis Macdonald: Yes. Scottish Water’s consultation code was approved by Scottish ministers after consultation with the Water Customer Consultation Panels. We have asked the panels to keep the code under review and report back on how well it is being implemented.

Scottish Water

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the allocation within Scottish Water’s investment programme for easing constraints on new housing and assisting with first-time connections to existing housing has been committed and how much has been spent.

Lewis Macdonald: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding would have to be allocated from Scottish Water’s budget to address all known development constraints if water customers were to cover the entire cost of addressing such development constraints through water charges.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is given in paragraph 4.11 of Investing in Water Services 2006-2014 , a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33325). All MSPs received a personal copy of this document and the accompanying document Paying for Water Services 2006-2010 , a copy of which is also available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33326).

Water Services

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for finding and repairing a water leak where it is unclear whether the leak is coming from a burst pipe in a street or from a council tenant's garden.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Water is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the public water and sewerage networks. The maintenance and repair of water, sewerage and drainage networks within the curtilage of an individual property are matters for the owner of that property. I would expect Scottish Water and owners of properties to cooperate to identify the source of leaks and to commission the appropriate repairs.

Young Offenders

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to replace the loss of secure places for serious young offenders following the closure of Kerelaw School.

Cathy Jamieson: As the member will be aware, Kerelaw School and Kerelaw Secure Unit are separate entities.

  By 2007, Kerelaw Secure Unit was expected to provide 12 secure places in total. Those places will now be provided between St Philips School and The Good Shepherd Centre. Glasgow Council has already made clear that it is responsible for arranging the smooth running of Kerelaw Secure Unit for the transitional period.